


the one where they get discounts

by ItsJustSarah



Series: i will always choose you aka all the soulmate tropes [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alcohol, College AU, F/F, Mutual Pining, halloween fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 12:40:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16326419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsJustSarah/pseuds/ItsJustSarah
Summary: Kara and Lena pretend to be a couple just to get discounts. Or at least that’s what they tell themselves when they keep doing it.or fake dating au because we’re broke college students (lena isnt)





	1. Chapter 1

It started with ice cream. Of course, it did.

Lena was typing her night away with a singular focus on finishing her paper on fungal processing and how it became a multibillion dollar industry on the simple fact that yeast produces a by-product that makes human brains go haywire, when Kara came in with that kicked-puppy face.

“You busy?” Kara asks, heading straight to her bed.

“Hello to you, too.”

“Sorry.” Kara stumbles face first onto her mattress with a muffled, “Hi.”

“Not busy just… working,” Lena shrugs.

“Okay,” Kara says.

There’s a crinkle in her forehead that lets Lena know she’s contemplating on something, but then she sighs and plants her face back on her pillow.

It took all of five minutes for Lena to save her file and decide that work is done for the day. She tried her best not to let it get to her but Kara had been sighing every five seconds and she knows she’ll never get anything done with that kicked-puppy look on her roommate’s face.

“Alright,” Lena stops typing and shuts her laptop close, “what is it?”

“Hm- huh- ahh- what?” Kara tries her best to pretend she wasn’t just caught looking, and turns to open her phone.

“You’ve been wearing that mopey face since you came back, so spill.” Lena stands and crosses their shared space to sit on Kara’s bed.

“No. I’m- it’s nothing.”

“Kara,” Lena trails willing her roommate to finally look up. And when she does, Lena realizes just how dangerous Kara’s full on pout is.

They have been roommates for half a semester now. The main dorms have been under renovation after a fire destroyed most of it last year. Which meant Lena’s spacey single bed studio- previously Lex’s- is no longer available and she needed to find another place to stay. Instead of living off-campus, she decided to save herself from the twenty minute drive and power through the semester living with a roommate.

Lena didn’t expect to make friends with her new roommate but it’s impossible not to get drawn to Kara Danvers’ charm. 

“Fine! It’s not nothing but it’s stupid,” Kara admits as she sits up on her bed.

“If it’s making you upset then I’m sure it isn’t stupid, darling. Come on, just say it.”

“Okay. There’s a buy-one-get-one-free promo on sundaes at Noonan’s but it’s only for couples,” Kara finally admits with a blush, looking down.

“And?”

“And I wanted to get one but I’m ‘super single’.” Kara looks up from under her lashes.

“Why don’t you just ask one of your friends to come with you?” Lena asks, still not getting why her roommate is all worked up.

“They know me too well to fall for it this time. Plus, they know almost all my friends.”

Lena ignores the fact that this isn’t the first time Kara apparently had tried to con Noonan’s for free food.

“Okay, so what’s with all the subtle looks in my direction?”

“Nothing!” Kara blushes profusely as if it wasn’t obvious enough that she was lying.

A penny drops.

“Wait. Do you want me to go with you?”

“No!” Kara denies.

Lena barely suppresses the smirk she can feel showing on her lips.

“Okay! Fine, yes! You’re the only person I know who hasn’t gone to Noonan’s with me. But you were busy and there’s only like an hour left until they close and I know it’s super weird. It’s fine!” Kara guestures wildly with her hand and it only made Lena giggle even harder.

She couldn’t help it. She stands next to Kara’s bed and nudges at the socked feet dangling off it with her own.

“C’mon put on your shoes. Let’s get some free ice cream."

* * *

 

Which was how Lena found herself standing hand in hand with Kara Danvers at the end of a line for two ice cream cones at Noonan’s on a Tuesday night.

“This is kind of exciting,” Lena admits.

“I know, and we get free food out of it,” Kara matches her grin.

Which she wishes was enough to make Kara oblivious to the couple in front of them casually making out, clearly wrapped around each other. But a glance on Kara’s blushing face tells her they are both victims of the blatant PDA.

Kara was the one who suggested they hold hands because ‘ _we need to sell it, Lena_ ’. She isn’t so sure it’s a good idea now because she feels distinctly connected to Kara.

She feels a tug in her hand and sees Kara smiling up at her, “We can totally pull this off.”

Lena laughs at that, “Absolutely.”

“Next!” a familiar voice from behind the counter calls out.

“Crap,” Lena says as soon as she notices who it was.

“What?”

“I know the cashier.”

“Sam?”

“Yeah, she’s in my economy class.”

“Oh, well that’s fine then.” Kara considers the couple in front of them before turning back to Lena. “We can just get two sundaes- my treat.” Kara tries for a smile as she squeezes Lena’s hand.

Not that she’s willing to admit it but Lena has already committed to the act. It felt wrong to give up when it’s the only reason she left the confines of her room. Some of it is due to all the effort they put in the planning going to waste, but most of it is just pure stubbornness that they can do this.

“No. We’re already here, there’s two of us and one of her. There’s no reason we can’t pull this off, Kara.” Lena didn’t mean for the words to come out so intensely but she needed a win today dammit.

“Y-yes, ma’am,” Kara agrees promptly.

Once they get to the front of the line, Sam greets Kara by name.

Kara was greeting Sam a good evening when her eyebrows shoot up as her eyes land on Lena.

“Lena? Wait, you and sunshine supreme?” Sam gestures at the two of them with an accusing finger.

“Hi, Samantha. Yes, I’m dating Kara,” Lena answers.

Sams eyes narrow at the them. Lena silently thanks the heavens that no one is behind them on queue.

“We’re going to get two sundae specials with the discount?” Kara tries, ever focused on their end goal.

“Aren’t you supposed to be finishing your paper by tonight,” Sam says, emphasizing the latter with air quotes.

“I have.”

“Of course.” Sam rolls her eyes, then leans over the counter, covers the side of her face and whispers loud enough for Kara to hear. “Am I right to assume Kara has roped you into her scheme?”

“Hey!” Kara admonishes.

“Are you implying that I’m not actually dating my girlfriend? Don’t be ridiculous, Sam.”

Sam actually laughs at that, as if it was such a ridiculous thing to happen.

It’s no longer a matter of ice cream, this has become a matter of pride. Lena is going to commit to the lie and live with the crime.

“Fine. Prove it,” Sam's shit eating grin was wide enough to make Lena worry, “Kiss.”

She hears Kara laughing nervously, “Wait, you didn’t ask anyone else to do that!”

“Those idiots in front of you were practically licking each other. I didn’t have to.” Sam triumphantly argues.

“You know this is juvenile, right?” Lena asks.

“So is lying for free ice cream,” Sam says, crossing her arms in front of her. As if to say, this is where it ends.

Lena finds herself all too willing to actually kiss Kara. It will prove Sam wrong and let them get what they came for -free ice cream. The only thing holding her back is the fact that she’s not sure whether Kara would agree. But then she feels Kara’s hands tug on hers, asking a silent question.

Lena looks up at Kara and somehow it’s enough to understand they were on the same page.  
Without further ado, Lena finds herself reaching for Kara’s face as a hand softly pulls at her hips.

 _Soft_.

That was her only thought. It was only a moment but it was enough for the knowledge that Kara’s lips were really soft to permanently plant itself on her mind.

“I didn’t actually think you’d do it,” Sam slow claps, “but out of sheer stubbornness I’m gonna give you guys the discount.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kara is not subtle, lena just wants peace, and sam is amused with the gays

“So, did you really finish the paper Sam was talking about or did I totally distract you from it?” Kara says biting her lip.

Kara was already halfway through her sundae as they were walking back to their dorm. Extra large sundae, that is. It’s a miracle the ice cream didn’t fall off the cone when Sam was filling it in. Meanwhile, Lena was still trying to make a dent on the ridiculously sized dessert.

“It’s fine, Kara. I’m actually glad to get away from it,” Lena says.

It seems to stave off the look of guilt on Kara’s face and replace it with curiosity, “What’s it about?”

“Well, technically alcohol,” Kara’s eyebrows shoot up at that but Lena continues, “but in terms of it’s impact on global economy.”

“Ah, yes. My roommate, the incredible triple major.”

“Don’t remind me. You know my faith in humanity dwindles every time I have to attend a business seminar,” Lena groans.

Kara scoffs, “Sure. That’s why you sneak in at night to the engineering labs trying to save the world working on your particle system proposals.”

There’s ice cream on Kara’s nose now but she seems too preoccupied with scarfing her cone down to notice.

“OK, first of all, I do not sneak out,” Lena reaches out to wipe the distracting mess on Kara’s nose with a tissue and Kara stops walking to let her, eyes crossing as they follows Lena’s hands. “I just don’t wanna wake you. Second, I’m pragmatic. And, third, how did you know about my prototypes?” 

“I, well- uh,” Kara blinks a few times, her face now an attractive shade of red, before taking the tissue from Lena’s hands, “I read your notes, the ones you tear out, when I clean sometimes.”

“Oh,” Lena can feel her own blush creeping up her neck. She does have a habit of violently ripping off notebook pages before crumpling them and tossing them in the trash. She may have missed a couple of times but she didn’t think Kara paid enough attention to bother reading through her mess. Most of it were scribbled plans of the project she has with Jack.

“Those are for my advanced robotics course, Kara. You’d have to have at least some understanding of code to know what they say."

"Are you secretly a genius, Kara Danvers?” she teases.

“What? No, I—” Kara stops mid sentence to raise the arm she’s using to hold up her ice cream, “—Lena, you have to lick it or its gonna drip on your hand.” 

She does what she’s told trying to ignore the intensity in Kara’s tone. This girl and her love of food is going to kill Lena someday. 

Kara pointedly looks away as she does, “I just love science.”

“You know my notes are plans for a self-sufficient moving particle system because ‘ _you_ _just_ _love_ _science_ ’?” Lena says once she's sure most of her ice cream is safe from melting to her hands. She sees Kara still eyeing it and, for some godforsaken reason, she decides to hold it in front of Kara to offer her some.

And of course, Kara obliges and licks on her ice cream. 

Lena is not a neat freak. She just doesn't like the idea of someone else's saliva mixing in with her food and/or drink. She has seen far to many microbial glass slides to know just how much bacteria could fit into a square millimeter- thousands, the answer is thousands. Maybe she's exaggerating, but it doesn't hurt to be careful. This habit doesn't seem to apply to Kara Danvers, however. 

It's no wonder they've fallen into a habit of sharing food. Since they became roommates, it was one of the first things Lena noticed about Kara. She is constantly eating. Lena wasn't even surprised to find her feed full of food when she finally followed Kara on Instagram. This evidently does not have a bearing on Kara's figure, well, because Lena has eyes, and is a scientist. It is a natural instinct to observe. And it really isn't hard to notice Kara's muscles when she decides to do some push-ups in a tank top the day after Lena asks about how she stays fit despite eating so much calories. It was right there and her SWOT analysis due that night has never been any less interesting. 

“I sit-in with Winn in his classes sometimes,” Kara sighs and looks up at the sky, “I don’t know. Sometimes, I just think there’s something poetic about the pursuit of knowledge, not knowing whether it will leave you satisfied but doing it anyway. I find it... admirable.” Kara suddenly looks a million miles away from where they where standing.

“There’s the English major," Lena says, effectively bringing her roommate back to Earth with a laugh. 

Kara softly bumps her shoulder, “Thank you for coming with me tonight. I usually just ask Alex to do stuff like that.”

“You've pretended to date your sister?” Lena asks incredulously, but she can't help the small smile that's betraying her teasing.

“No, not like that! I mean, we usually do things that are a bit embarrassing to do alone. Like trying out a new Thai fusion place, or ice skating, or boxing classes.”

That statement provokes a mental image of Kara in workout clothes profusely sweating in a fighting stance that Lena cannot stop. She gulps at it and munches down her ice cream as a distraction.

“You seem very close."

“We are, but ever since she started dating Maggie, well… we don’t really see each other much. I mean we talked about it but we’re still figuring it out, I guess.”

“I’m sure you will eventually.”

* * *

“What’s up, Lena?” Sam sounds too chipper after their Thursday morning class, standing in front of Lena’s seat as she’s gathering her stuff.

“Good morning,” she greets Sam as she stands up.

“You too. Where’s your girlfriend?” Sam asks, and Lena tries her hardest not to roll her eyes as they make their into the hallway.

“In her own class, I presume.”

“Which is?” Sam probes.

“How should I know?”

“Come on, Lena. You didn’t really think I believed that peck, did you?”

“You’re an asshole.”

“While that is true, a simple ‘thank you’ would suffice. C’mon I’ve always known you have a little crush of Kara. You let her drink from _your_  cup at freshmen night.”

She met Sam pretty early in college. Just two drunk girls in the bathroom, crying. Lena can't even remember whatever it was they talked about but she's pretty sure she spilled some pretty major beans about her family. None of it made it to the tabloids nor the gossip circles of the student body. All she knows is that she made it to her bed alive, and Sam didn't need anymore ice breakers to greet her with a " _Hey, fuckface_." the next time they saw each other. Sam doesn't swear as much anymore, but she still has a habit of calling Lena out on her bullshit.

“Fine. We lied to get ice cream. Happy?”

“You’re name is on a building, Luthor. You don’t need freebies.”

“That’s not the point and it was fun.”

“Ha! What is the point then?” Sam looks at her like she knows something Lena doesn't. 

“Honestly, I’m not sure.”

“You better figure it out before someone, probably me, gets...” Sam trails.

“What?” Lena looks at Sam and sees her friend nod for her to look ahead.

Lena turns to see a beaming Kara Danvers making a beeline towards them with two coffee cups in hand. 

“Hi,” Kara says, stopping in front of Lena.

“Hi,”

Sam coughs before saying, “Didn’t even notice I was here, huh?” 

“Oh! Hi, Sam!” Kara startles, "I- didn't see you there."

“Hi, Kara. I gotta go. I have work and it’s too early for me to process— this.” Sam waves her hand between Kara and Lena before taking off. “Bye, nerds!”

“She okay?”

“She’s being dramatic. What’s up?”

“Oh, um. Cinnamon latte?” Kara offers her one of the cups, the one with her name written on the side.

Lena realizes Kara knows her too damn well when she takes a sip and tastes almond milk, “Thank you.”

“I just saw these stubs on my planner and apparently they’re expiring today. And I know you haven’t had coffee because you woke up on your third alarm,” Kara tries to laugh but it falls short to it’s usual level of joy and takes a sip of her own drink.

She narrows her eyes at Kara. Normally, Kara would text her about the coffee, and ask her to hang out at the only Starbucks on campus after class, not deliver it herself. 

“Is this a bribe?” Lena asks.

Kara winces, “Yes and no.” She stops walking and turns to fully face Lena. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Lena nods taking another sip of the drink she swears by. The taste slowly bringing all her senses to life. She just attended Cat Grant’s 8 am class severely decaffeinated and it was hell. She didn’t even hear what the assigned reading was for next week, only that there is one. Right now, Kara could ask for a car and she’d probably give her two.

“Do you have any plans for Saturday night?”

The latte inadvertently goes down the wrong pipe, and Lena coughs it up. Kara manages to move out of the trajectory in time.

"Are you okay?" Kara says, keeping a hand on Lena's back. 

"Yeah, just- went down the wrong pipe. Continue."

“It’s just that James bailed on us and we’re one person short for this Halloween thing. And I wanted to ask if you wanted to come? It will be fun, Lena.”

“Halloween thing?”

“It’s the whore house.”

Lena just blinks and wonders if she might be having an aneurysm.

“I’m sorry, the what?"

“Sigma Beta has this fundraiser every Halloween where they set-up a horror house and scare the crap out of students and, of course, Maggie wanted to see it so Alex will go.”

 _Horror_. _She_ _said_ _horror_.

“Oh, I guess that’s not so bad." _Infinitely better, in fact._ "But, honestly, I don’t know how people enjoy those things."

“I know right? It’s like, you’re paying them to give you a heart attack.”

"Lex took me to one of those when we were kids. The idiot ran off screaming his head off, then I got escorted out by one of the zombies. She gave me cotton candy after."

"Oh my god. Lena, that's terrible!" Kara laughed and before she knew it, Lena is being engulfed in a hug she knew better than to resist. 

"See this is why it's important to do this activity as a group."

"It's still pretty stupid though," Lena mumbles through Kara's shirt.

She could feel Kara's laugh against her body more than she could hear it, "So stupid."

“But you’re still going?”

“I want to hang out with Alex. It’s just- I just haven’t figured out how to talk to Maggie yet. It is so awkward, Lena. So I thought screaming our heads off in a haunted house would hide the fact that I have no idea how to act around them.”

It brings Lena back to the other night. Sadness that rarely showed lingered in Kara's eyes that Lena doesn't know how to help quell. But this she can help with, so she dives in. 

“Sure, I’m in.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah, but you have to promise not to leave me in that place,” Lena asks, making sure Kara knows how serious she is about that part.

“I will always protect you. I promise, ” Kara says softly.

And Lena hears every single whisper in her head telling her this was a bad idea quiet down. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wasnt planning on writing this chapter yet here we are! actual halloween next up! (kara's pov maybe?)
> 
> i read comments im just bad at replying sorry! i genuinely dont know what to say but ily, im trying to get better at it i promise


	3. Halloween Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was too stubborn to upload this in two separate chapters and then the semester swallowed me whole now we all just have to pretend its still october

Saturday rolls in and Lena gets a text that says, _I’ll pick you up at 6?,_ from Kara in the middle of her lecture.

She sends a quick, _we literally live together_.

When she sees _exactly_ on her notifications, she allows herself a chuckle before closing her phone and placing it on her desk, face-down.

———

The tent stands ominously in the middle of the campus quad. Screams echo across the grounds from the inside and it doesn’t help the cold that is slowly spreading from Lena’s hands. It takes up a good hundred-square feet of the field and managed to make the usually benign area look intimidating. Lena is impressed that they’ve pulled off setting it up in just two days.

“I just texted Alex. She says they’re heading to the _concierge_? Whatever the heck that means.”

“I think, she means that.” Lena points towards a guy wearing the Sigma Beta insignia on his jacket, standing behind a lonesome stand with a banner that says, ‘Spooky Tent Tickets’, 20-feet away from the entrance.

Lena sees Kara’s sister, Alex, a girl wearing a matching hoodie, which Lena assumes is her girlfriend, Maggie, and Winn, approaching the stand.

“Oh, I see them! Alex!” Kara tries to wave at her sister until she notices, and waves them over.

As they make their way to the booth, Lena gets a closer look at the guy manning it. His skin was blue, his hair was white, and there’s three shiny orbs protruding from his forehead, his costume no doubt. He was talking animatedly with Maggie as they wait for Kara and her.

“Everyone, you all know Lena,” Kara says as soon as they reach the booth.

“Nice to see you out and about,” Alex says.

“I could use some fresh air,” Lena tries not to sound nervous in front of Alex and for what reasons she decides to revisit that in another time. She just hoped if it’s that obvious she can blame it on the fact they’re about to enter a nightmare.

“Hi, Lena. I’m Maggie, Alex’s girlfriend.” Maggie extends a hand out to her.

“She just likes bragging about it. Don’t mind her,” Winn says which earns him a punch on the shoulder from Maggie.

“It’s true!”, he says with no trace of remorse, rubbing his shoulder in pain.

“Hi,” Lena shakes Maggie’s other, still outstretched hand.

“Oh, that’s a firm handshake. I like her,” she fake whispers to Alex.

“You should. Everyone should.” Kara says nonchalantly.

“And you’re all invited to tonight’s celebration, okay?” the fratman says.

“Querl, even if we weren’t, we’re gonna crash that place,” Maggie says, “Alright, let’s get to it.”

 

//

 

Two figures stand at the entrance of Lena’s very bad idea. One of them is a corpse with its intestines spilling out, in a dentist chair, while the other is a masked doctor covered in blood holding a machete. She can guess that the theme inside based off of this preview and it makes her stick to Kara’s side a little closer.

“Stay close to me,” Kara whispers.

“That’s the plan.”

Just as they’re about to reach the entrance when one of the figures, the doctor holding a machete, suddenly moves to stand by the entrance.

“Holy shit!” Maggie yells.

There was a loud shriek and Lena can’t tell whether the source is her or Winn. Her grip on Kara’s arm is alarmingly tight this early in their horror house trip.

“Enter in pairs, or alone,” the figure says in a voice so sinister Lena’s fairly sure they’re enjoying this act. “Leave together, or not at all.”

“What? That’s not in the poster!?” Alex yells, clearly reluctant to separate from the group.

They jumped back as the machete was pounded violently to the ground several times but the bloody doctor said nothing else, only staring at them behind his surgical mask, chest heaving, and waiting. Which is actually more terrifying than him talking.

“I’m not leaving, Lena.”

“I’m with Alex.”

Kara and Maggie say at the same time. Which lands four pairs of eyes on Winn.

“Really? You’re gonna make me go through this alone? Alex, I’m a coward,” he says in a small voice.

“Listen to me, Winslow. Everything you see tonight is fake. They’re not gonna hurt you. We need you to be brave. I need you to be brave. Just for tonight. You got this, okay?”

She sees Winn nodding, but Lena’s still processing what the objective might be, “Leave together or not at all,” she says, mostly to herself.

She looks up at Kara and sees realization hit them at the same time, “We need to find each other inside.”

“‘ _Or not at all_ ’? What the fuck does that mean?” Maggie chimes in.

“Well, I don’t want to find out. Alright, I’m gonna go last since I’m alone,” Winn says.

“No!” Alex gestures for everyone to get together until Lena finds herself in an actual huddle, right in the middle of the quad in front of an enormous repurposed tent. “Here’s the plan. Winn, you go in first. Scream as loud as you can so we can find where you are. Maggie and I will go in last to get to you all as fast as we can.”

There was nodding until Winn takes a deep breath to collect himself and breaks off to walk towards the entrance.

“Alex, come save me early, okay?” he says before entering the darkness. The doctor letting him pass through without anymore surprises. Lena guesses there’s plenty more of that inside.

It became apparent a few seconds later that it was Winn who shrieked earlier, when a similar but louder sound came from inside the tent.

“Next,” the bloody doctor waived them inside with his machete.

“Let’s go,” Kara says tugging Lena with her.

She didn’t even realize she was holding Kara’s hand, and now that she has noticed, Lena gets conscious of the fact that her hands are sweating like crazy. But Kara doesn’t seem to mind, if the vice grip on Lena’s hand is any indication.

They pass machete doctor without much ado but as soon as they’re about see the end of the hall, Lena felt something brush her ankle.

She jumps and screams at the same time. Her heart leaping to her throat and jostling Kara forward. And the girl has the audacity to laugh.

They get to the end of the hall and are met with two doors, one going left and one going right.

“Which way?” Lena says with a voice she doesn’t recognize as her own. It’s high and shrill and full of nerves.

Kara looks like she’s concentrating on each door before opening the left one and pulling Lena inside. The next area was dark and Lena’s eyes are still adjusting to the lack of light, making it even harder to see.

“Kara…” Lena warns.

“Don’t worry, you’re with me. I’ll protect you,” Kara says with a gentle squeeze of her hand.

The room was illuminated only with lights coming from behind four unmoving figures lined up in each side of a walkway leading up to a door that is painted with a number two at the other end of the room.

“I heard you can tell which is fake from their shoes,” Kara whispers.

As soon as both of them look down, all four hooded figures move to converge in on them, “Kara!” Lena screams holding tightly onto Kara’s hands as they make a run for it.

Kara manages to shove one figure closest to them before it could grab Lena’s jacket. Lena runs full speed to the other end of the room, dragging Kara along with her, and opens the door to the next room, unaware she’s screaming the entire time.

They go through two more rooms of equal horror until they eventually find Winn, thanks to his distinct screams. How he ended up shirtless, Lena doesn’t know, but they make their way for through a room filled with cobwebs getting chased by a zombie onto the next one.

“Rao, have mercy,” Kara says as soon as they’re inside. She’s the last one to get in and anyone needs a second to take in the horror that lay before them.

It was a room full of dolls. No, not dolls. Mannequins. Disembodied mannequins. Some hanging off the ceiling, some scattered on the floor and some still posed to stand.

“Okay, you can do this. You are pretty. You are loved—”

“Winn, shut up!” Kara hushes Winn’s incessant self peptalk, which admittedly is also making Lena more nervous.

Lena’s eyeing one of the mannequins standing. She learned not to trust anything she sees inside this place. She was sure it was going to move when Alex and Maggie burst through the door behind them, and all five of them started screaming at each other.

Maggie was poised to punch, both fists in front of her like a boxer, Alex had acquired a stick from who knows where, and Winn somehow managed to climb Kara’s back like a koala screaming.

“Winn, get off! Get off!” Kara shakes off her friend.

“Sorry. Jesus! I’m so glad to see you.” He jumps off of Kara and runs off to hug Alex, “Let me out.”

“It’s Alex not Jesus,” Maggie laughs breathlessly, “But yeah, we’re gonna get us out.”

“Um, where the fuck your shirt?” Alex asks.

Before Winn could answer, a loud knock coming from the door they all went through hushed their conversation.

Lena could feel them all collectively hold their breaths. 

Three knocks in succession followed, much louder than the first, then stopped.

A few eerily quiet seconds go by where Lena can only hear the sound of her pounding heart before a loud banging on the door followed suit, strong enough to shake its frame.

“Alex.” Kara’s voice was calm but Lena could hear some fear slipping into it.

“Yes?” Alex whispers.

“Did you lock the door?”

Lena sees the doorknob slowly turning just as Alex says, “Run.”

Lena didn’t need to be told twice. She reaches forward for Kara’s already extended hand and they all bolt toward what she hopes for is the exit.

Winn gets to the door before anyone else does and wretches it open. To Lena’s surprise, he holds it open for them instead of running through. She looks up to see that it’s held by a mechanism that automatically shuts doors, much like the ones in their classrooms.

“Come on! Come on!” Winn sounds like he’s about to cry, but yells at them nonetheless.

Kara was the first one out the door, with Lena in tow, and Alex and Maggie at their heels. Winn slams the door shut as soon as Maggie gets out. 

Lena almost cries in relief when she recognized the hallway as the entrance they went through minutes ago, but holds it in as the machete wielding doctor blocks the exit with his arms crossed. Kara stops dead in her tracks and yells, “Alex!”

Alex doesn’t break the momentum of her run, and impressively sidesteps her sister and Lena.

“Motherfucker, if you don’t move you are gonna get hit in the nut sack!” There was no hesitation in Alex’s voice. The doctor looked like he was smart enough to recognize that, as he darts out of the way.

With that, Alex and Maggie barrel past the doctor and Kara makes sure they follow closely behind.

The cold night air has never been more satistfying as it hits Lena’s face. They reach the exit and she sees Querl on his phone, still sitting in his booth. Completely unbothered by the ordeal they just went through.

Lena is positively sweating, for good reason. She hasn’t ran that much since highschool. Where P.E. was a requirement in boarding school hell. Catching her breath, she notices they were all panting, save for Kara who’s laughing at Winn for collapsing to the ground, now laying there like a starfish, still shirtless. He didn’t look like he was in any danger, other than being emotionally compromised.

“We did it! We made it!” Kara says triumphantly. 

“Congratulations! You one of the fastest teams we’ve seen today! Ten minutes and twelve seconds.” Querl slowly claps and gives them a nod of approval. “I’m impressed.”

“Ten minutes?! We were in there for an eternity!” Winn says in disbelief.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part 2 tomorrow i swear on winn’s lost shirt


	4. Halloween part 2

“I did not know it was possible for a human to scream that loudly,” Kara wonders out loud as they make their way to Winn’s van after agreeing to have dinner at Noonan’s.

“You also screamed,” Maggie retorts.

“I was startled! That guy with a pighead came out of nowhere!”

During the ordeal, it was anything but funny, but now that it’s over, the comical face Kara made every time they get surprised makes Lena giggle.

“Really, Lena?”

“What? You did look a little scared.”

“I wasn’t! I was just… trying not to hurt anyone.” Kara’s brows are now furrowed, as if she’s trying to figure out a way to say something else but can’t find the words.

“We’re heading to the party after. You in?” Alex cuts in.

The invitation throws Lena off. She hadn’t expected this nightout to last as long as it did. The fact that she is genuinely having fun with Kara’s friends was a small miracle on it’s own, she didn’t want to overstay her welcome. Not to mention she wanted to end the night on a good note.

“Yeah, come with us, Lena. It’ll be fun,” Winn adds, “We’re taking Kara, too.”

“I- Isn’t that for house members only?” Lena asks, still unsure whether the invitation is just out of courtesy or genuine.

“No, silly. Consider this your official invitation from the sorority VP,” Maggie says.

“I- I don’t have a costume.” Lena tries one more time.

“Good thing I have one for you,” Winn grins as they reach his van. Which according to him was a conscious choice of purchase for his equipments.  
Lena still isn’t sure what his major is.

“You... you have a costume for Lena in your trunk?” Maggie asks her eyebrows shooting up.  
Winn opens up the back of the van, revealing the seats pushed down and costumes hanged on a rod.

“I’m not an animal, Sawyer. Of course, I have. One for each of you.”

“That’s— I didn’t even see that earlier?” Alex says, touching the fabrics.

“Yeah, it’s why I put the curtains up, and I wasn’t gonna let you and Maggie do without costumes again,”

“We can go if you don’t want to,” Kara whispers as Alex and Winn start bickering over something about last year’s halloween.

Something about everyone but him wearing matching sets.

Kara hasn’t said anything until now. It’s clear that Alex, Maggie, and Winn were expecting her to come to the party even before their little misadventure. But Kara’s still making sure she’s comfortable and is giving her a chance to say no. It’s a pleasant feeling that Lena isn’t used to, she can’t put a word on it, but it makes her feel warm nonetheless.

Before she could reply, Maggie calls out with a suggestive, “There’s free pizza,” she pauses, “and booze.”

It makes Lena laugh, “Fine.”

“Yes!” Winn pumps his fist into the air.

“Alright, then.”

“We have to stop by Noonan’s to get changed though,” Alex says.

“And eat!” Kara reminds everyone.

———

“Did you really have costumes for everyone?” Lena asks Winns as soon as they were alone.

There was a mutual agreement that burgers take precedence over everything else that evening. After, finishing what Lena thought was enough for ten people, Winn pleads for Kara to watch over Alex and Maggie while they change in his van with a, ‘ _please_ _not_ _in_ _my_ _van_ ’. Kara only complies at the promise that Winn will pay for her milkshakes. Lena’s dress apparently needs some final adjustments since he never got to actually take her measurements so they take the much more illuminated restroom.

“I promised Querl we’ll participate this year. And I wasn’t gonna let any of these fools leave me hanging again so, yes, I brought outfits for everyone.” Winn was behind Lena, sewing at the hem of her costume.

Winn was wearing shorts, a blue shirt, and some sort of headgear. Lena was too preoccupied with the overwhelming pink she’s wearing to even ask.

“Winn, not to be ungrateful but where exactly did you get the inspiration for the godawful color of this dress.”

She hears Winn chuckle, “It’s from a cartoon. Trust me on this the regular student body can recognize your costume,” he hesitates for a moment before adding, “Kara will love it.”

“Fine.”

She watches as his hands fly in and out to stitch up intricate lines Lena has never bothered to learn (Lillian would never encourage it) making the dress more tolerable. “How did you even make these, Winn? I mean, they’re really good.”

“My dad used to be a toymaker. Learned a lot from him,” he says not looking up.

Lena recognizes the short quips and knows that Winn won’t elaborate. She does that too when asked about her family. So she doesn’t press. Instead, she thanks him.

“You are all being used for my ensemble, silly. No need to thank me. Now, put this on.”

Winn hands over a plastic circlet. There’s a little gem attached to it’s front.

“A crown?”

Winn bows down to her with a dramatic flourish, “For tonight, thou art royalty, your highness.”

———

Lena finds Kara sitting in their booth alone, finishing up her milkshake. She has also changed into her costume, although Lena doesn’t know who she’s supposed to be either. Kara’s wearing leather pants, a band shirt Lena doesn’t recognize, combat boots, and there’s a weirdly shaped red guitar on the table.

The kicker is that her hair is down, mussed in a way that was on purpose and she’s wearing aviators indoors. Lena doesn’t know how she’s seeing with those sunglasses on. But she really can’t process much because Kara looks like a rockstar and Lena feels like she’s going to combust.

“Lena!” Kara says as soon as she notices Lena, leaving her milkshake and standing up from the booth.

“I mean, Princess Bubblegum,” Kara actually curtsies which makes Lena roll her eyes.

“I have no idea who that is,” Lena deadpans trying to suppress the attraction she’s feeling.

Lena thinks she deserves a medal of self preservation actually. Considering she doesn’t swoon and die after this apparition of Kara steps into her space looking dangerous.

“You’re so cute,” Kara laughs and there’s an unmistakable blush creeping up her cheeks.

“I’m gonna go kill Winn,” Lena’s already taken a step towards the restrooms but Kara was quick to catch her arm and stop her.

“No, no, no, no, no! You look good! I’m sorry for laughing. You’re costume is good. I love it.” The hand in Lena’s arm slides down to grab her hand, “Come, let’s go see everyone.”

In their short time living together, Lena has never known Kara to leave leftovers, ever, but as she spots the unfinished milkshake Kara forgot about as they leave, she makes a mental note to maybe forgive Winn Schott and thank him for his talents.

———

As soon as Alex steps out of the van, a chorus of “Danvers!” erupts from the crowd gathered in front of the house.

“Isn’t your sister from a different house?” Lena asks Kara as they try to move past a wall of people to get inside the house.

Kara nods.

“Delta, right? And she’s dating Maggie.”

“Yeah, they kind of… settled the rivalry between the two. They saved both houses from getting abolished last year, fixed them up internally, and dismissed a lot of assholes. Now my sister is treated like a national hero by the Sigmas and so is her g… uh... Maggie.”

People are now jumping up and down chanting _Danvers_.

“How are you two?” Lena asks.

“Getting warmer.” Kara shrugs. “That was the most non-awkward hangout we have ever had.”

A chorus of _Sawyer_ has now erupted from the front lawn crowd.

Lena shuffles closer to Kara and tells her, “Good. Baby steps. You’ll get there eventually.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for coming with me,” Kara says and there’s that million watt smile again that Lena’s slowly finding out cracks all her defenses.

“Look who it is guys! Baby D is in the house!” a guy wearing a Captain America outfit yells and crowd erupts again. Kara bellows out a laughter looking at Lena with an I-don’t-know-whats-happening smile.

“Hey, Max.” Alex holds up her right hand and makes a gesture of turning down a dial. Which earns her two thumbs up from Max.

When Max turns back to them, he looks considerably more subdued, but it doesn’t stop the awe in his face as soon as his eyes land on Lena, “Oh, and we have royalty among us! Lex’s sister is here! Wherever you are Luthor, rest in peace.” He makes a show of pounding his chest twice before pointing his index finger to the sky.

“He’s just in France, Maxwell. Take it down a notch, will you?” A man wearing white robes, Lena recognizes as an ethics professor pats him on the back.

“Yes, your excellency, Mr. J’onzz.” He bows down on him, and gives Lena another smile, “Welcome, kids! Happy Halloween! Grab a condom pack on your way out.” He hands each of them a bottle of beer before moving onto someone else.

Lena did not really know what she was getting into. But Kara’s solid presence on her side keeps her grounded somehow.

* * *

 

Lena is making things hard for Kara. She just looks so cute in that costume, Kara feels like she’s going to burst if she doesn’t say it every five minutes.

Lena, who has won them five consequtive rounds of beer pong because ‘ _we had a table at home and Lex taught me_ ’, Alex was barely restrained by Kara from kissing her. Lena, her introverted rommie, who somehow accepted her invitation to a horror house and to this party after. Lena, who is in the kitchen getting herself a refill and a _‘break from Samantha or else I might break her face, Kara_ ’.

When Winn asked her if he could make their costumes this Halloween, Kara might’ve encouraged him too much when she told him to go crazy. She still doesn’t know if she should thank Winn or kick his ass for giving her and Lena a matching set.

Sam took one look at their matching outfits and shook her head with a, “ _Not drunk enough for this_ ,” before marching the opposite direction.

The costume is a small thing but it makes Kara feel attached to Lena in some way. They did arrive here together (with three more people that is), but she was with Kara nonetheless. She can’t put a finger on it but it makes her feel floaty and happy. It makes her stand taller and puff her chest out a little too, for some weird reason. She has caught herself several times tonight trying not to actually float beside Lena, and it has made her giggle several times when she’s reminded who she’s dressed as. Lena asks ‘what?’ to which she just shakes her head and sips whatever it was Alex put in her cup to hide her smile. She hopes Lena chalks her giggly mood to the drink.

“Can you be more obvious, Danvers?” Winn brings her back to the couch where she’s sitting right in front of the pingpong table most of the party has congregated to.

“Huh?” Kara looks at the table and only now notices Maggie severely losing a round of actual pingpong to a senior.

“You’ve been looking at Lena like she’s our last slice chocolate peacan pie all night,” Sam chimes in, sitting on the sofa armrest.

“Wha— I—” She sees Alex take over from Maggie but they’re still losing, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kara’s face feel hot all of a sudden.

“Why did you have to bet money on this?” Alex whispers to Maggie, not that anyone else but Kara can hear.

“Makes it interesting,” she hears Maggie reply.

“You sure?” Winn asks, now turned towards the kitchen.

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll be alright with Mike hitting on her right?” Sam challenges.

Kara knows she should’ve at least considered the possibility that Sam is just baiting her but her head whips in the direction of the kitchen on instinct and she yells, “What?”

She only took her eyes off of Lena for a minute and sure as hell. Mike was leaning on the kitchen counter next to her. A stupid smile on his face.

“I…” Kara doesn’t know what she is exactly but she knows the crinkle Alex loves teasing her for is forming on her forehead.

Lena looks uncomfortable at just the presence of Mike, not to mention his ancient Greek costume is basically loincloth, glued cardboard, and sandals.

It makes Kara stand up from the sofa and only distantly registers Sam saying, “Finally. Space to sit.”

Kara moves to squeeze in between the dwindling space between Mike Gand and Lena in time, “Hey, do we have a problem here?”

“Danvers. I was just asking Lena here if she wants to have a good time,” the slur in his words was obvious, and the alcohol on his breath makes Kara want to gag, “Aw, don’t be jealous, Danvers. You can sh—”

He reaches out to touch her shoulder but Kara slaps out his wrist with a little more force than necessary.

“You’re drunk, bud. Leave.” Kara says.

“Or wha—” Mike stalks forward and Kara nudges him below the sternum with a solid knuckle. It’s quick and from what Kara learned in her brief self defence elective, really painful for humans.

He collapses to his knees on shakey legs and groans in pain in his intoxicated state, clutching his chest. “Ow!” he cries in pain.

“You were saying?” Kara taunts him.

“Got it! Got it! Leaving!” he says weakly as he leverages himself up with the kitchen counter and stalks off.

“Yeah, keep walking, Alexios!”

“Thank you. But you know I could’ve handled that right,” Lena smirks behind her.

“Of course, but I told you I will protect you. Now, we need to make sure Alex doesn’t murder people because of beer pong.”

Kara has officially lost count of how many times she took Lena’s hand tonight. Maybe she’s forming a new habit. She can’t say she minds. Not at all.

———

Winn is passed out in his van, Alex and Maggie are nowhere in sight, and Kara is on the floor, tucked between Lena’s knees, who’s sitting on the couch eyes fixed on the TV.

The energy of the party was finally dying down and somebody suggested they watch a movie. That’s how Kara ended up watching Wreck-It-Ralph as it played in the living room screen surrounded by inebrated college students at the last legs of their consciousness.

She hears Lena yawn and it makes her turn her head. Kara reaches up and all it takes is a soft, “Come on, let’s get you home,” for Lena to sit up from the couch and hold out her hands for Kara to help her up.

“Are you okay?” Kara asks as they walk out of the house. 

“Fine,” Lena says. She sounds positively sober but her breath and the way her entire weight is on Kara’s side says otherwise.

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“I told you, not to take up Brainy on that bet.” 

“Then how else would I prove that I can win, Kara?” Lena bites back, with no venom at all that it makes Kara laugh.

“Was it worth it?”

“He passed out like a log. Absolutely.” The smug look on Lena’s face would have been dignified if she wasn’t literally walking sideways.

Kara grabs a hold of Lena’s arm for them to stop on a sidewalk.

The dorm is a couple of blocks from where they are. Kara decides she has to do something about Lena’s severe lack of balance or risk her roommate breaking an ankle. They’d get to their place faster if she carries Lena anyway. It’s a win-win. So she sits down, offering her back to Lena.

“Kara?” she hears Lena behind her and Kara can’t help the chortle that escapes when she sees Lena looking around for her, confused.

“Down here, Lena.” She waits for Lena’s eyes to land on her before patting her own shoulder. “Hop on. I’ll carry you.”

“You’re not serious?”

“Please?” Kara tries.

Lena looks down at her for moment before she sighs and says, “Okay.”

Kara feels arms go around her neck as she reaches back to grab the back of Lena’s legs, and hoisting them up her waist. She clearly has not thought this through because she feels Lena’s warmth completely wrap around her body and heat spikes up her cheeks that has nothing to do with National City’s weather.

“For the record, you were walking sideways,” Kara jokes to try and distract herself.

“I’m still awake. He isn’t,” Lena says and Kara tries to ignore how she can feel Lena’s warm breath at the nape of her neck.  
Lena continues to defend her competitive nature and Kara let’s her for the time being.

“Kara,” Lena groans after they gain a few blocks, “Don’t ever let me drink Brainy under the table again.”

It makes Kara laugh, it’s probably the only admission of defeat she’s going to get but she’ll take it, “As you wish.”

“You’re hot.” Lena says just as the dorm has come into view. 

Kara laughs nervously at that. Maybe she misheard, “What?”

“You’re always hot. Even when it’s really freezing sometimes, you never get cold. You’re like the sun,” she pauses with a hum, “No, more like a blanket. Yeah, a blanket.” Lena nods seemingly pleased with the analogy she made.

“And soft. Funny, I thought you’ll be hard with all these muscles and yet your always soft, even your hands.” Lena sounds more asleep than awake now as she gently lays her head on Kara’s shoulder.

Just as Kara though Lena has fallen asleep she hears her whisper, “l like holding you hand, Kara Danvers.”

Kara has trouble hearing anything other than the sound if her own heart then. It takes her a few deep breaths before she’s sure she can talk with an even voice.

“I- I like holding your hand too,” she manages to stutter. It’s not quite smooth but it’s the best she can muster when she’s this nervous.

Kara held her breath for the next ten seconds that had been the longest pause in her young life. She hears Lena’s heartbeat, and can still feel her even breaths on her shoulder.

“Lena?”

Kara’s met with silence, and her heart is beating like a drum. She realizes Lena has fallen asleep on her back and probably didn’t even hear Kara. She probably won’t even remember saying these things the next morning.

With Lena’s words playing on a loop in her head, she tries to make her way inside their dorm as smoothly as she can.

 _I like holding your hand_.

Lena couldn’t possibly have meant anything by that. She was something that’s always been out of Kara’s reach. 

———

_It was freshmen night, and was a lot of human alcohol. Meaning a lot of humans intoxicated with alcohol. Kara was feeling a bit claustrophobic with all the people cramped in the small space beside the swimming pool and she lost Alex in the crowd._

_The whole day had been a wild experience for Kara. Everything was so new and everyone was a stranger. It was familiar feeling, and the memory of it is threathening to cave in on her. She realizes she needs a moment of reprieve anld immediately heads to the nearest bathroom but found it locked._

_“Hey, I need to use the restroom?”_

_She hears giggling inside._

_“Password?”_

_“Um, please?”_

_The door opens and she is met with the most brilliant green eyes she’s seen. A girl is holding the door open on one hand and a cup on the other, with a dopey grin on her face._

_“Come in!” the girl grabs her arm and hauls her inside before closing the door_.

———

Kara knows Lena doesn’t remember much of that night. The next time they saw each other, she was met with an apology and an _I hope I didn’t do anything too embarrassing._

She gets to the front steps of their building, carefully sidestepping some students who are also making their way inside. They hold the door open for her. She opts not to take their unreliable elevator and instead slowly makes her way up the stairs careful not to jostle Lena. 

It’s a small miracle that Lena only makes a noise once Kara sets her down the bed. Her face scrunching up as she instinctively grabs a pillow and curls up around it. Lena’s face sporting a little frown before settling into a familiar peaceful slumber tugs at Kara’s heartstrings.

She catches herself smiling as she’s grabbing a bottle of water from their mini fridge, but she’s not ready to unpack just what it meant. Tonight, is a good one and Kara is determined not to ruin it by overthinking. She heads back to Lena’s bed and tries to remedy the impending hangover her roommate is going to have.

“Lena?” Kara softly shakes Lena’s arm.

“Kara. I’m sleeping,” sleep has already taken Lena’s voice, dropping it a few registers, and sending shivers down Kara’s spine.

“Yes, but please sit up and drink this so you don’t get a hangover tomorrow?”  
Lena slowly reaches for the bottle, which Kara hands, and sits up to take a few sips without opening her eyes. Kara encourages her to drink more than a few sips and successfully makes her drink half the bottle.

“Great job! Now, you may continue your sleep, princess.” Kara tucks her back in, ignoring the dull ache she feels in her chest. 

“Don’t call me that if you’re not…” Lena mumbles as the rest of the words get muffled by her pillow.

“Goodnight, dork.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick question: do yall want them to bang or not in this fic? i might need to change the rating.

**Author's Note:**

> no beta we survive like women, this is a bit of a crackfic sorry about that
> 
> leave me a comment if u liked it and let me know what you think :) violent reactions can be redirected to: drunklenaluthor.tumblr.com


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